Student Experiments on the Topic of Micro-plastics in the Environment for Secondary Education Level II: The Coffee Pad Machine Experiment and Sediment Analysis

Abstract

Two simple laboratory experiments for addressing the issue of microplastics in the aqueous environment in science teaching are developed. Extraction of microbeads from cosmetic products using a coffee pad machine makes students aware of the potential emission of microplastics into the environment by using these products. Density separation of microplastic particles from beach sediment samples on the other hand demonstrates the difficulty of dealing with the problem once the particles have entered the environment. Using the low-cost experimental set-up facilitates integration of the microplastics’ topic into laboratory teaching making science lessons vivid and more interesting.